Archive | Breakin’

August 23, 2012: It’s the most eagerly awaited b-boy competition on the planet. All year, regional and national qualifiers have been taking place to select the crews who will take part. And in just three months, the stage will be set for the ultimate showdown: The Braun Battle of the Year Finals.

The world’s biggest b-boy competition, the world championship of breakdancing, will take place on November 17, 2012 in Montpellier, France. With the best choreographed and spontaneous b-boy dance action on display, it promises to be a spectacular night for b-boy and hip hop fans. More than 13,000 tickets to Montpellier’s Park & Suites Arena are expected to sell out fast.

Dozens of qualifiers have taken place and crews have qualified from all over the world, including Greece, Spain, Tunisia, Japan, Singapore, France and many other countries. Over the next few months, several more crews will get the chance to qualify, including two crews from Africa, which will have its own Battle of the Year three days before the final in Montpellier.

For 2012 there is a change in format from previous years and a new battle formula. Six crews will now qualify for the final battles, not four. The two crews with the highest show rankings will go directly to the semi-finals while the other four crews will battle in the quarter-finals for the remaining two spots in the semis. This is a not a permanent change. Organizers will review the system after the finals and continue only if it’s successful.

On top of the main event, there’ll be a series of gigs, workshops, 1vs1 performances, We B-Girlz Battles, parties and much more over the week to make the Braun BOTY an all-round hip hop extravaganza!

Following its long-term commitments to b-boying: including to its ambassadors b-boy Ronnie Abaldonado and DJ Lean Rock – Braun and its cruZer range of shavers and trimmers are proud to present the 2012 edition of the Battle of the Year.

Battle of the Year (3D), the movie, will be released in January 2013. It tells the story of an American crew battling to make the final and was partly filmed during the 2011 Braun Battle of the Year finals. Check out the official trailer:

Comments Off on GET READY FOR THE BRAUN BOTY FINALS! November 17, 2012 in Montpellier, France

A lot of people such as onlookers of the ghetto dance form and even breakdancers themselves don’t know the true history of the culture. Cool Herc has been labeled the founder of Hip Hop. He played a big part but he was a block party ghetto promoter who brought some of the livest parties together. Within the unity of these parties the fun and excitement created an aura the attendees embraced.
On the contrary, breakdancing evolved from many different forms of dance. An evolution of different music genres and ethnicities having impact on urban youth. Blacks took tap dancing to a new level by getting down on the floor and doing down rock while performing dance routines influenced by such dancers like the Nicholas Brothers. Tap dancing is originally an Irish cultural dance but tap dancing on a professional level today do not allow tap dancers to evolve and incorporate other cultural dance forms into their dance form anymore. This is where down rock came from. Puerto Ricans on the other hand with their carribbean style of dancing evolved such forms like the Mambo and Rumba and gave them a different style of dancing on top. When you put these forms of dance together you start creating a whole new dance style. Just like ghetto DJing evolved when Herc created the Merry-Go-Round system by using two records simultaneously extending certain beats he played to get the crowds excitement and energy going and keep the party rocking. Dj Flash’s improvement of Hercs Merry-Go Round system by introducing a mixer to the house party allowed him to mix beats much longer and change records quicker. After that, Theodore created scratching which is used in todays top DJ competitions to win battles. Before funk came in 1974, breakers were dancing to Led Zepplin and rock music. The environment of the early 70’s in the Bronx dictated what the attitude of the youth would be. Trac 2 quotes, “Back then it was all about being fly. You had the Levi’s creased, the Terry clothed shirts with bucket hats. We would go to other burroughs to battle crews just to show them up and take their girls. Guys like Spy and Mongo Rock had ghetto celebrity status.” Blacks who lived in the same community as Puerto Ricans usually didn’t socialize. What Cool Herc’s outdoor parties allowed was these two different cultures to come together through different ways of interpreting music through dance which created one specific dance form. All these teens of the 70’s had influence from the acid free style rock from the 60’s. When the soldiers came back from Vietnam, anti-Vietnam music changed the tone of the mid 70’s. What became of all the change throughout the last decade up to early 1975 was some of the best rocking / b-boying / breakdancing crews who claimed the roots of breakdancing. You had the Zulu Kings who were known for floor rocking specialized by Beaver and Robbie Rob. Salsoul was the first Puerto Rican crew. Vinnie and Bobby Lee of Salsoul were known for their freestyle off the top rocking. Batch, Aby, Trace 2, and Weeble were the first to establish the Bronx Boy Rocking Crew. They spread different chapters to other communities throughout the Bronx and were the first to do so. The Crazy Commandos (C.C.) Spy, Shorty Rock, and JoJo revolutionized the styles of rocking and b-boying the way it’s done today. Star Child La Rocks, Bos, Blue, & Trac 2 incorporated gymnastics into the dance form. They were the winners of the first b-boy contest ever held in the Bronx in 1978. They also won the first crew battle ever held. They were later televised on Dance Fever to win the first dance competition won by Eddie Vega a Star Child La Hustle member ever held on television. These days hip-hop is used as a marketing tool and concept to promote part of cultural movement such as mc/rappers to be made profitable by corporate America. Back in the day, the actual cultural movement was founded by youths self expression such as graffiti writing, DJing, rocking, b-boying, breakdancing, and MCing. What this culture lost is the true essence on the way the culture was founded because cultural movement was not meant to be profitable originally, but the glits and glam of the rapping lifestyle that is marketed today is what turned out from this true form of art. People sell their cultural movement for pennies on the dollar and loose the integrity of self expression and self empowerment that this cultural movement gave them the power to have. An old wise man once said, “When you look at an old pile of shit its just an old pile of shit, but take a stick and stir that pile of shit up, and smell the stink come back.” What the youth today need to realize is that’s what hip-hop is now and we need to bring back that essence of what this true art form once was.